Monday, April 30, 2007

Monday, Windmills & Queen's Day

LOUD music... it's Queen's Day here, kind of a combination of Mardi Gras, New Year's Eve, Halloween and the 4th of July! Everybody dresses a little crazy, and drinks a LOT, and is generally festive... there is live music all over the place and lots of folks cruise the canals partying, fun day! Here I am trying to stay out of the wind. decided to do my painting in just 3 colors, 2 blues and a white, to keep the mess down. Ros & I painted on the patio of the snack bar at Kinderdijk, a Windmill Historical Site that is a great secret in this country. We saw it in a guidebook, but our hotel had never heard of it, and neither did anyone else we asked till we got within 1/2 hour of it. HOWEVER we drove all over the place trying to get there, it took us about 3 hours - yes, you can probably drive from one end of this country to the other in TWO hours, but we went around in many circles... all signs were in Dutch. The first person to recognise the park's name was a nice policeman, who asked if we needed the directions in English, then proceeded to give them to us in Dutch. When we asked HOW LONG till we get there, he just smiled and indicated that we should just ENJOY the ride (we had been riding for 2 1/2 hours already, and had RUN OUT of enjoyment... Same deal going home, well, not as long (Paula hearitly disagrees that we were out of control on the way home - she was the navigator going home, and a good one) but we DID do the 'ring'around Rotterdam TWICE - yes, very nice bridges, and architecture, but ONCE should have been enough! So... no paintings from Paula or Sandy - it was like a hurricane at the windmill site - I guess that's why it''s a good place for them!





Below is a view from the inside of a windmill... Paula & I took the tour, they are amazingly constructed - very sturdy, almost 300 years old and held a busload of French tourists and us... there were quite a few rooms and a quaint little kitchen/dining room. STEEP stairs!







4 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorry about the tulips; Who Knew?

LOVED the sneak preview of the blue with a little white; windmills that you were painting at a cafe. Looks like Delft to me.

Looking forward to the evening painting events in Amsterdam! Be safe and have fun.

Have more beer and cheese and enjoy!

Kelley Carey MacDonald said...

Kate.... thanks. It doesn't look like we'll be diong the nocturne in Amsterdam, because we're running out of time! Should have taken 10 days. Paula & I tried to get into Amsterdam a couple of nights ago but our debit cards wouldn't work. Thanks, Citizens Bank! Yes, more beer is in order... the cheese has not presented itself in it's best light YET. Although last night I had the BEST italian food I've ever had - roasted pear ravioli (homemade pasta, of course) with gorgonzola sauce and walnuts. To DIE for! xoxo We're staying out of trouble (FOR THE MOST PART!)

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Love the windmill shots and how nice is it that you got the Dutch version of Mardi Gras on your trip?
Two blues and a white?
Hmmmmmm, I wanna see that one.
Drove myself completely nuts trying to paint that stupid octagonal plate yesterday. The olives came out good but the plate.... sheesh

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Hey, there's that cup you just painted.
I'm enjoying looking at these pictures Kells.